Recently, on one of my many (many, many, many) flights to and from Melbourne, I watched an episode of "No Reservations" where Tony Bourdain visited Baja Mexico. On the trip he spent time at La Guerrerense in Ensenada, which is a little tostada street cart that he called some of the best street food in the world. Big call! But the episode inspired me and I decided to pop by a friend's new house over the weekend and whip up some gourmet seafood tostadas.

Now, if you don't know what a tostada is it's a crispy tortilla base that's topped with any number of ingredients. In the lower north shore of Sydney I wasn't able to find a place that carries tostada shells so I bought regular tortillas and cut two rounds out of each one using a jar top as a guide. I then fried the tostadas in a bit of vegetable oil in a frying pan until crisp - about two or three minutes per side.

I made three different varieties but you can mix and match as you desire and also come up with your own toppings! The first one I made was crab with lime mayo and cabbage.

You'll need:

1 tin shredded crab meat

3 tbsp whole egg mayo

juice of half a lime

shredded cabbage

chopped chives

paprika

salt & pepper

tabasco sauce (optional)

Mix the mayo with the lime juice and a sprinkle of paprika and a dash of salt and pepper. Add the crab meat until mixed well. Place a dollop of the mixture to a tostada shell and top with shredded cabbage, chopped chives, and a dash of tabasco sauce.

Next came octopus with tuna and pickled jalepeno. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste combination in this one and it actually was a crowd favourite!

You'll need:

1 tin tuna fillets (I used Serena tuna)

pickled jalepenos (they're now in the Mexican food section of your grocer)

6 baby octopus, heads removed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 chopped red chili

chili paste

Add the olive oil to a saucepan and heat. Add the chilis and octopus and fry for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and chop the octopus into small bite-sized pieces. To a tostada shell add a chunk of tuna topped with a slice of picked jalepeno then add a pile of the chopped octopus and top with a bit of chili paste.

Lastly, I made a scallop and dory ceviche tostada. This was incredibly tasty and my personal favourite.

You'll need:

6 fresh scallops

2 firm dory fillets

1 chopped red onion

1 chopped red chili

chopped coriander

juice of 2 lemons

juice of 2 limes

salt & pepper

tabasco sauce (optional)

Chope the dory into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl. Thinly slice the scallops and add to the dory. Add the onion, coriander, chili, salt and pepper, and juice and then stir. Let the ceviche sit in the fridge for a half hour, stirring occasionally.

Top a tostada shell with ceviche and add a splash of tabasco sauce. Yum...